Nissan lowers price of electric Leaf

Nissan is lowering the price of its Leaf electric car to try to boost sales.

The 2013 Leaf will start at $28,800, which is $6,000 lower than the previous model. Federal tax incentives can bring that below $19,000.

Nissan expected Leaf sales to jump 50 percent last year after it expanded the number of dealerships offering them. But worldwide sales rose just 22 percent to around 27,000. U.S. Leaf sales were up just 1.5 percent.

Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn says the lower price should help attract more customers. He says the company is spending less on some parts and on manufacturing. Nissan recently moved production of U.S. Leafs to Tennessee from Japan.

Ghosn says the lack of recharging infrastructure is also hurting electric car sales.